


The Phoenix and the Rainbow raven

by FandomTrashcan



Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies), Maleficent: mistress of evil (Disney)
Genre: Because I think a pacifist attitude should be rewarded, Borra actually has some chill, Conall lives, Dark fey, Diaval befriends everyone, Gen, Give this raven boy an unkindness, I like the main cast, Like, Moors, People are sleeping on the dark fey in fanfics man, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Shrike love the world, Udo is mute, but come on, fight me, instead of leading to death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomTrashcan/pseuds/FandomTrashcan
Summary: There is a legend among the dark fey, one of a beautiful rainbow coloured bird that sacrificed his colours and singing voice to help his phoenix friend bring the first spring. The raven was a symbol of friendship in their culture, so they did not really understand the humans claims of the misfortune brougth by their raven friends.This is why, when a raven showed up and made their home in the caves, they were delighted.They did have to wonder though, when all other birds avoided them, why did this one keep showing up?
Relationships: Diaval & Maleficent (Disney), Diaval/Maleficent (Disney)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 90





	1. an entrance

**Author's Note:**

> The myth the dark fey speak of is the story of the Rainbow Crow is a Lenape legend, symbolizing the value of selflessness and service, according to my quick google search. I recommend Overly sarcastic productions' video about it for a quick summary. I got the idea for this from there. Obviously I adapted the myth to fit the fictional world of maleficent, replacing the crow with a raven.
> 
> This is the prologue.
> 
> I hope you enjoy regardless ^^

There was a counsel in progress in the midst of the sea-caves. The chosen leaders of their different flocks were discussing their next move. It had not been easy, Conall thought to himself. It was not easy. Both Borra and Shrike, leaders of the desert and jungle flock respectively, had been puffed up and arguing for the last few minutes. He wished once more he was blessed with calmer companions. Like Udo… Who had decided to forgo this whole disaster and work on bringing some branches back as saplings. A worthy use of this time. Borra was pacing up and down, clearly agitated, as he often was. “Yes they are no longer hunting us, but that hardly means we can live amongst them, Shrike!” Conall did agree with that to some extent, they all did, but the problem they wanted to discuss was how to deal with those who did want to live closer to the human town and those who wanted to move to the moors. Plenty of Conall’s flock were interested in the moors, the climate perfect for them. They would also be closer to their lost sister and phoenix reborn, Maleficent.

Shrike had puffed up her back colourful feathers, wings spread and holding her ground. “We know there are those that wish to be closer, to honor the union. I think we should discuss who we will keep them safe and keep the flock together when we are spread out over a larger distance, instead of screaming at each other!” This was indeed what they had come to talk about, but as always, their conversation had derailed.

Conall was sitting on the ground next to Udo, wondering what he did to deserve this, when a bird flew in, distracting Shrike. “Oh my, would you look at that.” Udo let out a quiet gasp and Borra ceased his pacing. Conall himself looked on in wonder.

Despite them having wings and sharing some behaviours with their fully feathered brethren, they rarely encountered any of them. Most birds kept a weary and respectful distance, which they returned in kind. This raven however, flew right up to them and started hopping around on the branches, cawing gently. Shrike let out a soft gasp. “Hello, beautiful rainbow bird. What are you looking for?” The raven puffed up and shook their feathers, smoothing them down. Shrike held out an arm and nearly squealed when the raven actually flew over to rest on a branch near her and gently pecked at her bracelets. “I know they are shiny, but they are mine. Hey Udo, are you carrying any rocks with you today. You had a lightshow with the fledglings today, right.” Udo smiled and threw her one of the stones still in his pocket.

The raven pecked at them for a bit, before shaking once more and cawing while flying off. Shrike was smiling. “Who could have guessed we would get a visit from another rainbow brother?” Conall walked over smiling as well. “A pleasant surprise, certainly. It is not often we get such a visit.” Udo shared that he could not wait to share the story with the younglings.

For you see, the rainbow raven was a legend they all knew as well as the mother phoenix. It was a legend of the first spring, where the young phoenix had wanted to bring warmth back after the first winter, bring life back. As most tales go the beginning is never easy. One of her companions, the beautiful rainbow bird, had seen her toil over the land, wishing to bring life back, but the winter cold still danced in the air, making it impossible for life to last.

Seeing her despair, the rainbow raven had flown up to the sun with a stick and lit the first fire, so the warmth would return. Flying back downwind in the sky, the fair birds feathers caught ablaze and turned black like soot and ash. The voice of the fair songbird no longer fair, but cracked and dark. When they returned with the fire however, the first spring came and the phoenix embraced him gently with the warmth they gave to her, comforting the bird in the loss of the colours. “When you look closely you can still see the rainbow in your feathers and your voice will bring me comfort regardless of how beautiful it is, because I know the sacrifice you made for me.”

This was a legend most popular with Borra’s people, who had spread it to them. Shrike had been very taken with it and it was most likely one of the few things they both agreed on as good. So to see a raven when they were at odds was a sign to them, a sign to calm down. Conall spoke up. “We can continue this meeting at a later date, when Maleficent has returned as well. Maybe then we can keep the discussion calm.” They all agreed with this arrangement, which was a great relief to Conalls aching head, and flew off to their own homes.


	2. In the forest and over the cliffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to keep Conall alive. It seemed cheap to me to kill of the pacifist and mentor/friend of the protagonist, to kickstart conflict. I think that the same goes for Borra's pushing maleficent for war. She would have done it herself regardless. They hurt her people and she cared for the dark fey kids. She was ready to fight on her own, so I feel like the movie was trying to soften her anger. In a way, I wanted to give her enough agency to make her own decisions, without to mcuh pushing for the people around her to either side. She does not have to be a good person to be a good character. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, is what I wanted to see, but did not get, not fully.
> 
> So I did it myself ;) Or at least implied it here.
> 
> Enjoy ^^

It was in the following days that the raven showed up more than once, mainly following Conall around whenever visiting him and the fey of the forest. The bird liked flying with their young flyers, helping them adjust to the wind current. The dark bird would caw gently at the first flyers in encouragement. Eventually Raven flew over to soar next to Conall. “Hello again my friend. I’ve heard you are exploring our home. Is it to your liking so far?” The response was a few loud caws and clicks, so he took it as a yes. There was a positive feel to it. “Are you perhaps planning to make your nest within our home? You are more than welcome.” The raven let out another caw, before landing on a branch and starting preeing. “Your feathers are already in place my friend.” Raven ignored him and continued preening.

Conall noticed a white space flying and dodging branches. It was his silent companion, well… Second silent companion, Udo. “Hello Udo, good to see you. Are you here for the lessons?” Udo greeted him and confirmed. “It seems like you had an assistant today, Raven was helping some of your younger flyers.” Udo let out a quiet huff of laughter and used his signs to recount the Raven swooping in on the morning class at the tropical flock and causing quite an uproar, considering they always liked the idea of their rainbow brethren. It had taken Udo a bit of effort to get the class back under control without a voice to call them to attention. Then the one responsible for the chaos perched on his shoulder and shrieked until the attention was back to Udo. The lesson continued relatively calm. “It seems our new feathered friend is a bit mischievous, aren’t you?” Directing the last part to Raven, who seems to take offence to it and flew off cawing. “I did not mean to offend...” This got another laugh out of Udo, who also took off to start the next lesson.

  
  


Borra had never been… calm, or peaceful, or well tempered. This attitude had gotten him into trouble as a nestling.

And as a fully grown fey…

He knew there was so much anger in the world, had been forced to confront it, had it directed at him by humans, had lost friends to it. He had been young and foolish. He could hardly be blamed for reflecting that anger back. All fey reflected the mood of the room, it was a way of bonding as a group. Emotions swirling around like a storm, like waves, like shard shards of ice. The anger boiled over with the arrival of Maleficent, the dark fey and guardian. She had been so filled with rage, Borra felt a connection, an understanding. He had been rash in his intial approach. He of all people should have understood to give a hurting fey space, to only near the storm surrounding them with their permission. But he had been excited at the thought of a solution, of war. At least then it would be done.

The dark guardian was protective of their young, no matter what the land they lived in was like, an instant protector. It was this protectiveness that fueled her rage, as it did his. His young, their nestlings, forced to live in exile, hidden, hunted. They understood each other, to a degree. His words almost needn’t be spoken to her, she already understood. 

Now things were different. The tides and winds and ice changed into something softer, more familiar. A gentleness he did not know what to do with… The rage was muted but he knew it would never be fully gone. He was doing better, been given more time to study what he was, what they were. His place in the world was... difficult to think about, nowadays. He was curious about the moors, it was so different from the caves they had taken shelter in, yet so alive in the same way as they had made their home in the caves. He did not want to explore the moors yet, the humans still making his skin crawl, a sense of rage and danger that had yet to leave him. The young prince and his love, the dark feys daughter, might be the exception, but even they made his feathers bristle.

He was simply very tired.

It was on one such day, early evening with the air finally cooling down in their desert paradise, that he was trying to gather the will to move from his ridge where his nest was located. He honestly found it difficult to fly very far most days. He was too tired to move, but knew what was the price of his rest. He didn't want his people to be concerned, Conall... to be concerned. He was coming by soon, after all.

He perched right on the edge, trying to summon that energy and just a bit of that anger that kept him going for all these years, but came up empty. Sighing, he kept a watchful eye on his people flying around.

Before he could leap down to take off regardless of the heaviness in his bones, there was a ball of feathers that hit him in the face.

Oh, it was the ash rainbow bird. “Be careful when you fly, beauty bird. You might peck someone's eye out when you did not mean to. Always strike with intent.” The raven shook his feathers and puffed up, clearly annoyed that Borra’s face dared to be an obstacle. Borra did respect the value birds had for their own being, wishing he could feel that too, instead of just speaking the right words. This bird however, seemed to mock him. “I was just telling you how it is. What are you doing here anyway?” The raven did not answer him of course. Instead he hopped over to the edge of the cliff to stare down at Borra’s people. He seemed to fail to find what he was looking for, instead squawking at Borra. “You do know that I can not understand you, right?" More squeaks, it was kind of humours. “Come on, let go, you seem to have a bit too much energy and I have too little today.” All it earned him was a gentle nibble and a head-tilt. “Do not worry, I am sure tomorrow will be better. Every day has been better these past few days.” That got him even more squacks and the raven flapping his wings.

In the end he did end up flying with the iridescent bird by his side. It was not like he could refuse, the black bird was sacred to his people after all. Except this bird did not exactly act like a descendant of the phoenix’s right wing bird. If anything, this bird was very silly and very annoying, swooping down to startle unsuspecting fey, only to get greeted. One of the young children tried to pet the mischievous bird, but he simply flew off again. Combining this with his refusal to let Shrike pet him, it was more similar to Borra than he initially thought. Touch was… still difficult. Conall might be one of the few that could pat him on the back without warning and even then Borra could not help his feathers puffing out, probably offening his fellow flockleader. Most people knew to give him some distance on bad days. He truly loved his flock.

The children continued chasing the raven around, the bird cawing in enjoyment, until he seemingly got tired. Borra held out his arm and to his surprise the rainbow bird actually landed on his arm, slightly panting. “Hello...” He got a silent stare, before the bird flapped his wings once more, cawing. He looked out over the horde of children staring at him with wonder in their eyes. “Remember that sometimes creatures of all kinds need a bit of space of their own. It is only respectful to give it to them. However… While our friend here rests, you can see if you all are fast enough to catch me instead.”

One of his tiny children, Corol, puffed up his beige wings and charged at him with an attempt at a battle cry. The rest quickly followed to which Borra cried out as well and took to the sky.

It was the most fun he had in awhile.

Rainbow raven was watching from the side, making trill noises and egging them on. It took a good while for the children to tire out, the sun had set and pairs came to collect their young, waving at Borra and thanking him for spending time with them. Borra flew back up to his ridge, sitting with his legs over the edge. Raven flew over and sat on his shoulder. “Have you decided to stick around for a while.”

“It seems he has, hasn’t he.” It was Conall, of course.

“Were you watching?”

Conall smiled and sat down next to him, close but not touching. “For a while, yes. I am so glad that there is enough safety for you to feel like you can spend time with the children.” Ugh…

“I suppose. It was fun.” They sat in silence, with Rainbow raven preening his feathers on Borra's shoulder. Conall was staring at the activity still going on down below and up above. “Your wings are ruffled, my friend. Do you need any help?” Had his day started a bit better, he might have said yes, but… “No I got it. Thank you Conall.” Conall simply nodded, thankfully giving him space.

Tomorrow might be better, the days might keep getting better.

And he felt like he was happy with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... What did you guys think? I wanted to give Borra a bit more depth here as well. Anger has to come from somewhere. I love this movie to death, but i feel like they had more to tell than they had time for.
> 
> Leave further suggestions for what Diaval gets up to in the comments, I'd love to read it. I will credit the ideas you put forward ^^
> 
> Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Down a crevasse, away from the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As said before, Udo is mute. Please see my earlier notes for my reasoning behind it. Udo is able to hear and see however. Again, most of this is headcanon, as the characters did not get that much development in the mistress of evil film. 
> 
> Please enjoy ^^

Udo had never been gifted with words.

Some might think that, as a teacher, he would find difficulty with telling the tales, teaching the ways of flight. This was, of course, incorrect. He always took immense joy in telling stories with his hands, with paints, with lights and shadows. He still loved when another story-spinner joined him with words, powerful words, to add to his tales. Their dark mage, Maleficent, was not fluent in the language of hands, but wished to learn more about the culture she had not gotten to enjoy. With an additional story teller, she could follow as well. Shrike was alway ready to help Udo spin his tales, for she loved them as much as he did.

The young taking flight had learned from their parents and always made sure to watch, pay attention, to him. His hands wove sentences, his body adding nauce to the language. He did not miss the ability to speak words, but he loved listening to others speak.

Conall, with his gentle word, reminding them what they were and their responsibility.

Borra, strong willed and worded, able to make even him take action in war he did not truly wish to be a part of. The rush that came from flying side by side with him. Conall unintentionally adding to that with reminding them of that responsibility.

Shrike, with the way she saw the word as infinite, able to chatter on for hours about the new river reflecting the sun, the fresh snow, the young sapling taken root. The way she loved every detail. The way she only always added to his stories.

But sometimes he wished for someone who shared his silence. Someone who could communicate with him in his silence. There had been no one again after his father, even with their large and increasing numbers. Yet it was alright with him if only he shared his own silence, as a young nestling had it difficult enough without a second barrier. His young students learned his language and respected him none the less for his lack of spoken words.

He was having a bit of time to himself for today, which was a good change of pace. His home was in one of the cravasses, more sheltered from the wind. He had a windchime to foretell the flying conditions, a gift from Conall. There was a storm out today… If the loud chimes were anything to go be. He hoped everyone found shelter. Flying in the conditions would be tedious.

It was then that he heard a loud screeching and cawing outside, a sound he had come to know a the raven that would visit their home. It seems his fully feathered assistant had not noticed the storm coming on, the cold wind foretelling the snow and thunder. Opening his door the coalbird flew inside. The coalbird was more of an ashen colour at the moment, but the snow would melt from his feathers soon. Udo greeted him, getting a bow with outstretched wings in return. He was glad his companion had no trouble understanding him. He was a bit worried for him though, the storm surely causing his friend to tumble. Thankfully he looked uninjured. Getting a cloth, he held it out in an offering, waiting to see if his friend allowed him to dry his feathers. A gentle caw had him put it down instead. His friend was very proud, no wonder he and Borra got along, the desert fey being the only one who could been see with the raven perched on his shoulder on occasion. Yet no one was allowed to help the ashen bird with his preening. He setted out to make himself and his friend something warm to drink, as his friend rolled in the blanket to dry. It looked humourous enough to get a silent huff of laughter out of him. The rainbow bird simply cawed at his, shaking out his feathers.

He often wondered what his friend was here for. Aside from being consistently helpful in Udo’s lessons and playing with their young fliers and nestlings, he always flew around, spying down on them as if looking for something. It seemed his search was unsuccesful. Udo did not mind spending time with the rainbow bird. 

It allowed him to keep a guardful watch in turn, after all.

Considering the larger timespan that had gone by, he was doubtful of the bird bringing misfortune, as humans often claimed. Not that he believed that ravens were a bad omen, no quite the opposite. It was just with the many times they had been cast out of their homes, he hated to think something was coming once again. That... someone was coming, again. But thankfully nothing had happened thus far. He put down the bowl with the warm drink for his feathered friend. They sat in silence, as neither of them had a voice to speak words with.

His ashen friend was chirping at him, low and quiet, seeming very comfortable among the blanket. Ravens were not known as songbirds by anyone. Udo always thought the gentle cawing was comforting and wonderful. A scorched song. He wished to hear it, one day. Shrike had been trying to convince their friend to sing, but she was unsuccessful so far. He mentioned that he was visiting the jungle as soon as the storm settled down and if he wanted to come along. His friend simply tucked his head under the blanket, so he guessed that it was a no. He took his drink, taking a moment to feel the warmth.

They spend the rest of the morning in silence, listening to the storm outside and waiting it out. Udo felt peaceful. The day was set up to be a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Good, bad? I really enjoy writing for Udo the most. He was the most intruging fey to me, besides our queen Maleficent of course.
> 
> Any suggestions for the mischief Diaval will get up to with the dark fey, as human or as raven, Tell me and I'll credit if I decide to write it. Or do it yourself, life your dream, harness that skill! ^^
> 
> Thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> There is not enough fanfiction about the dark fey, so I decided to try my hand at writing them. Obviously the charcters for Udo, the tundra fey, and shrike, the jungle fey, are pure speculation on my part. If they are developed in later movies, I don't doubt I will be very wrong. I also made Udo a mute character, as we never hear him speak. Even Shrike talks while preparing for battle. Udo is there, but always silent. So, yeah, Little headcanon. Most of this is headcanon, to be honest. I'm curious what you thought of my characterisation.
> 
> Leave any suggestions for what segnanigans Diaval gets up to in the comments, I would love to hear it. Yes, I am taking suggestion ^^ . I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
